Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/40004
SECURITY SYSTEMS NEWS SEPTEMBER 2011 www.securitysystemsnews.com SUPPLIERS BRIEFS Safran, L-1 merger gets final go-ahead PARIS—Safran cleared the last hurdle in its acquisition of L-1 Identity Solutions, the Stamford, Conn.-based biometrics company in late July. Final approval came from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, which notified Safran, based in Paris, that its investigation of the transaction is complete and it found no unresolved national secu- rity concerns. Safran announced last September that it would purchase L-1 and its biometric and enterprise access solutions, secure credentialing solutions and enrollment services businesses for $1.09b in cash. Following the closing, Safran intends to merge L-1 with its existing security business, Morpho. SISCO secures school DETROIT—Visitors to Detroit Public Schools are now background-checked through FAST-PASS, SISCO's high- speed visitor management system, according to a SISCO release. The sys- tem scans visitors' driver licenses and state ID cards and cross-checks the information with national sex-offender registries. Individuals who are identified as sex offenders are denied entry to school buildings, and visitors who pass the background check will be issued temporary photo ID badges. "With about 42,500 sex offenders in Michigan, many of them in this region, the ability to instantly identify and remove them from our school buildings will create safer learning environments for our students," said DPS inspector general Wilbert Van Marsh, in a pre- pared statement. The system also allows DPS to cre- ate its own database of people who are barred from entering school buildings. Panasonic enhances reseller program SECAUCUS, N.J.—Panasonic System Networks Company of America announced in late July that the new i-PRO Certified Reseller Program will provide more benefits to top resellers of Panasonic's i-PRO line of IP-based video surveillance equipment who meet training and certification requirements. Resellers achieving i-PRO Certified Gold status receive quarterly awards based on i-PRO purchase volume in addition to benefits such as marketing and sales support; priority technical and engineering support; and access to the full range of Panasonic i-PRO products. Resellers who are i-PRO Certified Silver, reflecting a lower purchase vol- ume, are eligible for other benefits. Panasonic's previously analog-prod- uct-only resellers, who are now desig- nated as i-PRO Regular Resellers, will have expanded access to most of the i-PRO camera and accessories line. Taking access control mobile HID says its new platform will usher in a new era of digital keys and portable identity credentials By Martha Entwistle IRVINE, Calif.—HID Global executives are excited to talk about the official launch of its new mobile access con- trol platform—called iCLASS SE. It's a plat- form, previewed at ISC West this year, that HID predicts will "usher in a new era of digital keys and new portable iden- tity credentials." At the ASIS show in Sep- tember, there will be more pre- views available and HID also will announce a number of new partnerships. HID is working with "lead- ing chip providers and mobile Tam Hulusi handset manufacturers to embed our Secure Identity Object (SIO) technology directly into smartphones and other mobile devices, and with mobile network operators to prepare for the availability of digital keys and portable cre- dentials on their NFC-enabled handsets," Tam Hulusi, HID SVP of strategic innovation & intel- lectual property, told Security Systems News in an email interview. HID also is working with its parent com- pany, global lock sup- plier ASSA ABLOY. The iCLASS SE solutions are in field trials in different vertical market applications including health- care, education. These part- nerships will give "integrators HID see page 52 Mace raises $8.3m Acquiring more centrals, product development on the books By Martha Entwistle HORSHAM, Pa.—With most of its legacy issues settled, Mace recently raised $8.3 million through a rights offering to exist- ing shareholders, and now has money in the bank to execute its growth strategy. "We're quite happy with the outcome," said Mace CEO Dennis Raefield. "We settled a whole lot of open issues," he explained. Raefield has spent a lot of time shed- ding Mace's non-security properties, and in the past two years he's overseen the purchase and integration of two whole- sale monitoring businesses and plans to buy more. "We have about 10 [centrals] in our pipeline and about Dennis Raefield three or four are close to closing. These are centrals that are generally not on the market," he said. Part of the money will be used to "expand into central- station-enabled products," he said. These products include GPS trackers, emergency trackers and panic buttons. Mace products include Mace Buddy, Mace Tracker, and Mace App. With Mace's central station infrastructure, these products are more valuable, Raefield said. "You're actually connected to a live operator ... all the technology in the world won't help you if all it does is send off a text to a server." SSN BriefCam will be on-demand By Whit Richardson NEVE ILAN, Israel—BriefCam will introduce a new on-demand model of its Video Synopsis software at next month's ASIS conference, said com- pany CEO Dror Irani. The Israel-based com- pany believes the ability for end users to create on- demand video synopses will offer easier access to "business intelligence" and reduce the amount of hard- ware needed compared to a traditional video surveil- lance and analytics model, according to Irani. Where a guard may have monitored several screens at once, BriefCam's software compresses several hours of footage into clips that can be reviewed in a manner of minutes. But why create the synopses if no one needs them? Irani says that's where the on- demand model comes in. "We don't generate them when you don't need it," he said, "which comes in handy in business." The on-demand synopsis could also be requested, accessed and viewed by non-security employees for other business intelligence purposes. With the new product, "the real change in the concept is going from continued processing to on-demand Steelbox is back By Whit Richardson ALPHARETTA, Ga.—After flying under the radar for a few years following its bankruptcy and subsequent acquisition, Steelbox has re- emerged with a new and expanded catalog of products. The company, now a division of Alpharetta, Ga.-based Adtech Global Solutions, recently released a new video management system, dubbed SteelVision, which integrates seam- lessly with its existing video-switching, encod- ing and storage equipment. Adtech obtained the VMS technology behind SteelVision in the April 2010 acquisition of Telindus Surveillance Solutions. BriefCam Video Synopsis for the rapid review of surveillance video presents multiple objects and activities simultaneously, even if they occurred at different times. processing," Irani said. About 20 percent of cameras require video synopsis for immediate response. The new on-demand function means the end user can cost-effectively cover the remaining cameras. "The new product ... will provide video synopsis coverage to 100 per- cent of installed cameras," according to Briefcam's Rachel Neiman. SSN While SteelVision is the company's newest offering, the "engine under the hood" is still SteelSwitch, said Nik Moissiadis, Steelbox's president. SteelSwitch is a piece of video- switching equipment designed to take the place of NVRs that aggregates digital and ana- log video and distributes it to end users while managing bandwidth usage in such a way so that video is not lost during high-traffic times, such as an emergency. Moissiadis said adding a VMS to the mix will allow the company to provide a complete end- to-end IP-video surveillance solution."Because it is our product, we make sure SteelVision and SteelSwitch are fully integrated." SSN SUPPLIERS 51